An Anomoly
by CBloom2
Summary: An envelope arrives for Ethan - is it good news or bad news? Ties in the needlestick storyline and the current storyline to a point.


**Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed my last story - I was able to read the reviews, but unable to answer them for some reason. But I appreciate every single one of them.**

 **This is just a little one shot that came out of nowhere regarding something that happened last series.**

 **I know nothing about the medical side of this, it is purely fiction! I'm kind of tying in an old storyline with the present one (if it works).**

 **As usual I don't own anyone from the Casualty universe - I just borrow them every so often to torture them. Enjoy...**

 **An Anomoly**

"Ethan!" He heard a slightly high pitched voice shout his name as he made his way to the staff room at the end of his shift. He turned round to see Jack walking towards him, his usual cheery persona shining a little to brightly for the exhausted doctor. He stopped as Jack met him, "Mrs Beauchamp asked me to give you this - she said you've been expecting it," he told him as he handed over a brown envelope with his name on it. His stomach somersaulted without warning as he felt the shiny paper in his hand, "Thank you Jack," he all but whispered.

"No problem, hey let's hope it's not your marching orders, " the receptionist giggled as he spun on his heels and left the young doctor alone in the middle of the reception area. He glanced down at the paper and saw the Holby Phlebotomy Department stamp glaring at him. He quickly folded it up and shoved it in his pocket - he would look at it later, right now, he just wanted to get home.

As he was getting changed to go home, the door was flung open and in walked Cal and Lily, who were trying to snatch five minutes for a coffee, "Good day at the office Nibbles?" Cal's forced bravado was beginning to grate on the younger man now.

"It was fine," Ethan snapped back, ignoring the looks of surprise that passed between his brother and his friend. He threw his scarf around his neck, then grabbed his coat, "Ethan, something fell out of your pocket," Lily told him as she bent down to pick the item up. As she rose upright, she noticed the stamp on it, "Phlebotomy Department? Is this about a patient?" she enquired.

Ethan all but pounced on the envelope, "Yes, just something I was researching..."

Cal, who had become very quiet after finding out where the letter was from, watched his brother carefully. He tensed, realising that his brother was lying - why would he lie?

Suddenly the door was opened once more to reveal Mrs Beauchamp, who was clearly looking for someone, "Ah, Dr Hardy, so this is where you are hiding?" she declared, hands on her hips.

"I...I'm off shift - I was going home..." he stammered as he always did in the presence of the Clinical Lead.

"Have you looked at the results yet?" she queried impatiently.

Ethan shook his head, "No, I was going to wait until I got home..."

To everyone's surprise Connie smiled genuinely, "I understand. Can I ask that you let me know the outcome as soon as you do please, although I am certain that everything will be fine."

Ethan nodded nervously, "Yes of course."

With that, she left the room in a shocked silence, the tension almost palpable.

"What results?" Cal asked immediately.

"Nothing important..."

"What have you had a blood test for Ethan?" Cal demanded forcefully, all worst case scenarios flying through his head, even though he hadn't told his brother about the adoption yet.

Ethan's head snapped in his direction, shocked at his tone, while Lily looked uncomfortable.

"It's...it's...the HIV test...after Louis. You know I've been on the prophylaxsis treatment...and this test tells me if I'm in the clear."

Cal let out a deep breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding - it wasn't what he had thought.

"But it doesn't matter what you say Cal, I'm not opening it in here...I'll see you later!"

With that, Ethan disappeared before Cal could say anything.

With the silence and shock still lingering, Lily put a gentle hand on Cal's arm, "I'm sure he'll be fine," she encouraged.

Cal wanted to laugh hysterically, if only she knew what was going on in their lives, "Yeah," he breathed.

About four hours later, Cal arrived home to their shared flat. After seeing Ethan, the rest of his shift had dragged on so much. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had stayed with him since Ethan had dashed out of the staff room.

He kicked off his shoes, then hung his jacket up. He walked into the living area via the kitchen, where he grabbed a beer from the fridge, "Is there one of those for me?" a voice came from the dark.

Cal spun round, just making out a shape in the moonlit room, "You scared me to death you idiot! I thought you were in bed."

He heard a small chuckle as he opened the fridge again to retrieve another bottle. He then made his way towards the sofa that Ethan was perched on, noticing that the younger man's body was radiating tension even in the milky moonlight.

He passed his brother the beer and Ethan took a long drink of it before placing it down on the table.

"Ethan?" Cal questioned, not liking his brother's demeanor one little bit, "What did it say?" he got straight to the point.

Even in the moonlight, Cal could make out that his little brother's eyes had filled with tears, a fact backed up by Ethan removing his glasses to wipe his eyes, "Ethan?" Cal repeated, his anxiety levels soaring.

"Well...it's kind of like a double edged sword really..." the younger man began.

"Just tell me Eth..." the older man huffed.

"I don't have HIV..." he told him.

"Thank god - I mean I knew you'd be ok, but just hearing it..." Cal faltered as he looked at his brother once more in the ghostly moonlight, noticing the frown lines on the young forhead, "What?" Cal demanded, his stomach churning, "Ethan, what aren't you telling me?"

"I don't understand it myself, but it tells me that I'm clear of HIV, but they've discovered an anomoly in my blood work."

Cal's heart missed a beat as he felt his stomach hit the floor, "An anomoly?"

 **What could it be? I don't know myself yet ha ha. I'm leaving it there with a possibility of coming back to it in the future - but I'm probably going to see how it plays out in the show first.**

 **Hope you enjoyed me taking you back to an old storyline (even though in a real hospital it wouldn't be anything like what I wrote!) Hope you enjoyed it and hope to see you next time!**


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